Too much Munich?

pkrone · December 17, 2013, 9:26pm

I brewed a light pils for the second time from a recipe posted on here by brewingdan in the past. I really liked the beer the first go 'round but thought it needed a tad more bitterness.
Here it is…I brewed this on Labor Day.
10 gallon batch OG 1.040 37 IBU’s
8 lbs Munich
4 lbs Pils
2 lbs Carared
1 oz saaz FW
2 oz hallertauer 60min
1 oz tettnang 60 min
1 oz saaz finish
WLP 838 Southern German lager yeast
I used RO water modified to the yellow, bitter profile w/ brunwater

Fermented at 50 for 41 days, cold crashed, kegged and fined in keg w/ gelatin

I tasted the beer last night. It’s very clear w/ a dense head. It tastes like an Octoberfest. Which is a bummer because I don’t really like the toastiness of most 'fests. I looked back at my notes from the first batch and questioned whether brewingdan got the amount of pils and munich reversed. It’s a good beer and doesn’t taste like a light beer. (I mashed at 156). Any thoughts on the flavor profile of a beer with this much Munich?

dobe12 · December 17, 2013, 10:16pm

I think you’re right. Looks more like an Ofest than a Pils. I’d do what you said and flip the Munich and Pils. I’d even knock that Munich down to maybe 2lbs or less for a Pils. And 2lbs of Carared seems like a lot, but I don’t have much knowledge of that grain.

tom_sawyer · December 18, 2013, 2:55am

I think 4lb of Munich in alight pils is too much and carared is put of place too. You got the wrong recipe dude, this is a festbier.

old_guy · December 18, 2013, 3:10am

For a light Pils I’d be hard pressed to put anything but Pils in it, and I would get the best Pils malt I could get my hands on. That’s just me. Made one last Feb, fermed@48 deg 3 wks, cold crashed another 3 wks aged 8 wks. came out really good. I’ll bet the one you got will make a decent “O” fest.

ynotbrusum · December 18, 2013, 4:10am

Whatever you want is fine, but for a pils try pils 16 lbs, Munich 1-2 lbs, Carapils 1 lb. I have run that before for a more lagery pils, if that is what you are after…otherwise a Smash with all pils will get you a crisper finish if you use Magnum, Hallertauer, Tettnanger, Mittlefruh, etc… For hopping and a good German yeast.

:cheers:

tom_sawyer · December 18, 2013, 2:20pm

I could see using a dash of Munich for a helles, but in a pils? Is this common? Just asking, not criticizing.

brew_meister_smith · December 18, 2013, 2:21pm

As pointed out by the others - 8lbs of Munich does not really make pils. It does however sound delicious.

If I were to do a pils, I’d be leaning toward 90-95% European pilsner malt with 5-10% Carapils or wheat. But that is just me.

pkrone · December 19, 2013, 2:19am

Thanks for the feedback. It’s a good beer, just not what I was expecting. Actually, it’s a really good beer for an OG of 1.040. Doesn’t taste that light. I think I’ll reverse the pils/munich amounts next time and see how it goes. A couple of you said too much carared. What flavor do you think that would be contributing? The beer’s not cloying at all. Just too toasty/roasty for me and I figgered that was the Munich.

brewingdan · December 19, 2013, 3:35am

This was a fun little beer.

The recipe is correct, but it was not intended to be a pils, rather an obscure regional czech lager.
The high percentage of Munich and caraRed helps fill out the lager at that gravity.

If you’re looking for something a bit crisper, you’re on the right path. Delete the caraRed, flip the Munich with the pils malt, increase both to the intended OG, but I wouldn’t increase the ibu quite that much at that gravity. Maybe 25-30.

Have fun. Hard to flop with Czech Saaz!!!

old_dawg · December 20, 2013, 5:02am

This recipe looks interesting and it led me to search for your original recipe. I found a post from a couple of years ago in which you said you were planning to use the Waldo Lake Amber Ale grain bill for a Czech lager version with Saaz. Did you brew it? If so, how’d it come out? Any suggestions for duplicating it?